JPH09198200A - Library device and drive recognition method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To attain setting up by automatically recognizing a driving unit built in a device when the driving unit loading an information recording medium to record and reproduce information can plurally be mounted. SOLUTION: A a carrying device 19 carrying and inserting the medium to a driving unit 18 is provided with an initiator function outputting an instruction to another device through an SCSI bus (small computer system interface) 13 to issue an inquiring command to another device by the initiator function at the time of starting. Then the number and the device kind of the built-in drive units are recognized from inquiry data transmitted from another device to control the carrying and insertion of the medium to the driving unit 18 by the carrying device 19 corresponding to the recognized number and device kind.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a library device and a drive recognition method, and more particularly, to a library device and a drive recognition method in which a plurality of types of drive units for mounting / recording / reproducing information are mounted.

[0002] A library device is a device for accommodating a large number of information recording media such as magneto-optical disks inside and reading and writing information by loading the information recording media into a drive unit as needed. In recent years, the handling of large-capacity data such as multimedia, image data, and graphic data is increasing, and the demand for a library device capable of storing data on a large number of information recording media is increasing.

On the other hand, various types of drive units incorporated in the library apparatus are provided by various companies, and improvements are added every day. For this reason, the library device tends to be designed so that the built-in drive unit can be freely selected and mounted / replaced.
The drive unit has different insertion force, insertion speed, and holding time when the information recording medium is inserted into the insertion opening for inserting the information recording medium, depending on the model. Therefore, it is necessary to control the operation of the transport device for transporting the information recording medium to the drive unit according to the mounted drive unit, and thus it is necessary for the transport device to recognize the number and model of the mounted drive units.

[0004]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 13 is a schematic block diagram of a conventional library device. FIG. 13 shows a library device using a magneto-optical disk as a recording medium. The library device 1 includes a host computer 2 and a SCSI (Smal).
l Computer System Interfa
ce) connected by a bus, and records / reproduces data according to an instruction from the host computer 2.

The library device 1 includes a medium housing 4 for storing an information recording medium 3 such as a magneto-optical disk, and an information recording medium 3.
A drive unit 5 for recording information on the information recording medium 3 or reproducing information from the information recording medium 3, the information recording medium 3 is taken out from the medium housing 4 and mounted on the drive unit 5, and at the same time taken out from the drive unit 5. Necessary for carrying media such as a media carrying unit 6 stored in the storage 4, a media carrying control unit 7 for controlling the media carrying unit 6 in response to a request from the host computer 2, the number of mounted drive units 5 and a model. It is composed of an operation panel 8 for inputting information.

When a new drive unit 5 is connected to the library device 1 having the above-mentioned configuration, the number of driver units 5 built in the library device 1 changes, so that the driver unit in which the information recording medium is newly mounted by the transport unit 6 is changed. It is necessary to change the control of the transport control unit 7 so as to move to the position. Further, when the newly installed driver unit 5 is a driver unit of another company or another model, since the insertion position and the insertion force of the information recording medium 3 are different, the position of the conveyance unit 6 by the conveyance control unit 7 and the control at the time of insertion are controlled. However, it must be different from other drive units.

For this reason, when a new drive unit is installed, it is necessary for the transport controller 7 to recognize information such as the number of drive units 5 and the model of the installed drive units 5. When newly installing a drive unit in the library apparatus 1, first, with the power supply turned off, the drive unit is fixed to a preset installation position with a screw or the like, and the SCSI bus is connected to another drive unit 5 and the transfer control unit 7 and a hand. Connect to the shaken state. Next, when the library device 1 is connected to the host computer 2 and the power is turned on to start up the library device 1, the number of drive units before the installation of the new drive unit set in the internal table 7a of the transfer control unit 7 and the model of the drive unit are changed. Read out.

Next, by operating the operation panel 8, the number of drive units and the drive unit model are rewritten to the number of drive units after the new drive unit is mounted and the number of drive units after the new drive unit is mounted by rewriting the drive unit model. And information about the model of the drive unit is input to the transport control unit 7. The transport control unit 7 stores the input information on the number of drive units after mounting the new drive unit and the model of the drive unit in the internal table 7a.

The library apparatus 1 controls the transport section 6 in accordance with the information stored in the internal table 7a of the transport control section 7 as described above. When there is a command from the host computer 2 to the transport control unit 7 to move the information recording medium 3 to the drive unit, the transport control unit 7 determines the information recording medium of the transport unit 6 according to the information on the number of drive units and the model stored in the internal table 7a. The position at which 3 is gripped, the insertion force into the drive unit 5, the insertion speed, and the holding time are controlled. At this time, in the conventional library apparatus 1, it is necessary to manually input the information necessary for controlling the transport unit 6 such as the number of drive units 5 mounted and the model thereof from the operation panel 8.

[0010]

However, in the conventional library apparatus, when a new drive unit is connected to the library apparatus or the drive unit is replaced with a different model, the number and model of the drive units are manually input again. Since it was necessary, do not enter the number of drive units and model,
If you make a mistake, the transport controller will recognize a different number and model than the number and model of drive units that are currently built in.Therefore, the information recording medium will not be transported to the newly installed drive unit. The insertion force, the insertion speed, and the holding time when mounting the information recording medium on the drive unit are different, and there is a problem that the information recording medium is not mounted on the drive unit.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a library device and a drive recognition method capable of automatically recognizing and setting up a drive unit incorporated in the device.

[0012]

A library apparatus according to claim 1 of the present invention comprises a medium storage section for storing an information recording medium,
A drive unit that is mounted with the information recording medium, records / reproduces the information recording medium, and transfers information via a bus forming a predetermined interface; and a drive unit connected to the bus to store the information recording medium in the medium storage unit. Medium transport means for transporting between the drive unit and the drive unit, identification information storage means storing identification information of a mountable drive unit, command issuing means for issuing a command to acquire the recognition information on the bus, and the command Based on the command issued by the issuing means, the identification information storage means is searched based on the identification information transmitted from the target connected to the bus, and the identification information transmitted from the target is stored in the identification information storage means. If stored, it includes a recognition means for recognizing that the drive unit can mount the target. To.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the recognizing means recognizes the number of built-in drive units according to the number of matching identification information. According to a third aspect of the present invention, the recognition unit recognizes the model of the mounted drive unit according to the matching identification information.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a medium carrying control means for controlling the medium carrying means according to the identification information recognized by the recognizing means. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the standard value of the drive unit corresponding to the identification information is stored in the memory in addition to the identification information, and the standard value corresponding to the recognition information recognized by the recognition means by the medium conveyance control means is stored in the memory. It is characterized in that reading is performed, and insertion of the information recording medium into the drive unit by the medium conveying means is controlled according to the read standard value.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the bus is SCSI (Small).
It is a bus forming a computer system interface). According to claim 7, the bus is SSA (Seri
6. An interface constructed on the basis of al Storage Architecture) is formed.
The library device according to any one of 1.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a medium storage portion for storing an information recording medium, a drive unit for mounting the information recording medium, recording / reproducing the information recording medium, and a bus forming a desired interface with the drive unit. A library device, which is connected and has a medium carrying means for carrying the information recording medium between the medium storage section and the drive unit, wherein the medium carrying means is connected to the bus via the bus. A command for transmitting identification information for identifying the device is issued to the device, and the built-in drive unit is recognized according to the identification information transmitted from the device connected to the bus according to the issued command. It is characterized by

According to a ninth aspect, the bus is SCSI (Small).
It is a bus forming a computer system interface). According to claim 10, the bus is SSA (Se
It is characterized by forming an interface constructed based on rial storage architecture).

According to the first aspect, the command issuing means for issuing the command for transmitting the identification information via the bus is provided, and the identification information of the device connected to the bus is automatically acquired and recognized by the command issuing means. The identification information obtained by the means is searched for the identification information storage means that stores the identification information of the mountable drive unit, and if there is identification information that matches the obtained identification information in the identification information storage means, it is determined as the drive unit installed in the device. Since it can be recognized automatically, there is no need for manual input.

According to the second aspect, the number of built-in drive units can be easily recognized by recognizing the matching identification information. According to claim 3, since the model of the drive unit mounted directly can be recognized from the matching identification information, the model of the drive unit can be easily recognized.

According to the fourth aspect, by controlling the medium carrying means for carrying the medium to the drive unit in accordance with the number and model of the drive units recognized by the recognizing means, the medium according to the standard of the mounted drive unit is controlled. Transport control becomes possible. According to the fifth aspect, by storing the standard value of the medium for the drive unit together with the identification information in the memory, control according to the standard of the drive unit becomes possible.

According to claim 6, SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) which is generally used at present.
) It can be easily realized by identifying each drive unit using the SCSI-ID of the interface. According to claim 7, SSA (Serial S
The flexibility of the connection can be improved by configuring the interface based on the torage Architecture).

According to the present invention, a command for transmitting the identification information for recognizing the device connected to the bus is issued via the bus forming the predetermined interface, and the identification information of the device connected to the bus is automatically generated. The drive units connected to the library device according to the acquired identification information, the number of built-in drive units can be recognized from the number of matching identification information, and the drive units can be recognized from the matching identification information. Can be recognized and the manual input is not required.

According to claim 9, the present invention can be easily realized by identifying each drive unit by using the SCSI-ID of the SCSI interface which is generally used at present. According to claim 10, S having a high degree of freedom
By configuring with an interface constructed based on SA (Serial Storage Architecture), the degree of freedom of connection can be improved.

[0024]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. The present embodiment shows a block diagram of an information processing system using a library device having a magneto-optical disk as a recording medium.

In the information processing system 11 to which the library device 14 of this embodiment is applied, a SCSI (Small Computer System) is installed in the host computer 12.
The library device 14 and the external hard disk device 15 are connected to each other via an (mInterface) bus 13. Various commands are supplied from the host computer 12 to the library device 14 and the external hard disk device 15 via the SCSI bus 13, data recording / reproduction is performed according to the supplied commands, and the host device via the SCSI bus 13 is executed. Computer 12
To exchange data with

The host computer 12 includes a processor 12a for processing information, a memory 12b in which a vendor identification and a product identification, which are identification information for identifying the own device at the time of SCSI connection, are stored, a SCSI bus. It is composed of a SCSI controller 12c for connecting to the device 13.

The external hard disk device 15 includes a hard disk 15a for recording information and a hard disk 15
a for writing / reading information to / from a hard disk 15a, a read / write unit 15b, a processor 15c for controlling the read / write unit 15b according to an externally supplied command, and for identifying its own device at the time of SCSI connection 15d, which stores the vendor identification and product identification that are the identification information of the
SCSI controller 15e for connecting to the bus 13
It is composed of

FIG. 2 is an external view of the library device according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the library device according to the embodiment of the present invention. The library device shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 has the same configuration as the library device shown in Japanese Patent Application No. 6-266509 filed by the applicant on October 31, 1994, and this embodiment is not particularly limited. The present invention relates to a method of acquiring information used when driving the library device shown in Japanese Patent Application No. 6-266509, and has a mechanical configuration of Japanese Patent Application No.
-266509, the detailed description of its mechanical structure is omitted.

The library device 14 of the present embodiment is a medium storage 1 for storing an information recording medium 16 such as a magneto-optical disk.
7. The information recording medium 16 is attached and information is recorded on the information recording medium 16, and the drive unit 18 for reproducing information from the information recording medium 16 and the information recording medium 16 are taken out from the medium storage 17 and attached to the drive unit 18. A transport device 19 and a host computer 12 that are taken out from the drive unit 18 and stored in the medium storage 17.
In response to an instruction from the medium storage 17 and the transport device 19
The control unit 22 for controlling the operation of the control unit 22 and the operating panel 21 for inputting an instruction to the control unit 22 and displaying the state of the mounted drive unit 18.

The medium storage unit 17 corresponds to the medium storage unit in the claims, and as shown in FIG. 3, the rotary storage unit 23 that stores the information recording media 16 by stacking them in four directions around the rotation shaft 20. The information recording medium 16 is externally loaded, and the information recording medium 16 housed inside is ejected externally. The drive unit 25 is connected to the control unit 22 and rotates the rotary storage unit 23 so that the stored portion of the information recording medium 16 to be taken out by the control signal supplied from the control unit 22 faces the transport device 19. Let

As shown in FIG. 3, the drive units 18 are stacked and installed in the lower part of the medium storage 17 in the direction of arrow A. In the library device 14, the drive unit 18
Is designed to be replaceable / expandable. The driver unit 18 is replaced by removing the cover of the library device 14.

FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of a driver unit mounting portion of an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4A is a perspective view of the library device 14 with the cover removed, and FIG.
Shows a perspective view of a mounting portion of the drive unit. When the cover is removed from the library device 14, the outer peripheral frame 25 appears as shown in FIG. When the fan unit 26 for cooling the drive unit 18 fixed to the entire surface of the outer peripheral frame 25 is removed, the drive unit mounting frame 27 appears as shown in FIG. 4 (B).
The drive unit 18 is fixed to the drive unit mounting frame 27.

To fix the drive unit 18 to the drive unit mounting frame 27, the drive unit 18 and the relay printed board 28 are fixed to the blanket 30 with the screws 29, and then the blanket 30 is fixed with the screws 3.
It is fixed by fixing to the drive unit mounting frame 27 by 1. The drive unit mounting frame 27 is formed with a plurality of stages of blanket mounting portions so that a plurality of drive units 18 can be fixed.

The drive unit 18 corresponds to the drive unit in the claims, and as shown in FIG. 1, the information recording medium 16 is pulled in from the medium insertion opening 33 to a predetermined mounting position and writing and reading of information is performed, and the information recording medium is also read. An information writing / reading unit 34 for ejecting 16 from the medium insertion port 33, a SCSI controller 35 for connecting to the SCSI bus 13, a vendor identification and a product identification for identifying the model of the own device. The memory 36 storing the
A vendor identification and a product identification of its own device are transmitted from the memory 36 in response to an inquiry command from the information writing / reading unit according to an instruction from the host computer 12 during normal operation. It comprises a processor 37 for controlling the operation of 34.

The carrying device 19 corresponds to the medium carrying means in the claims, and holds the information recording medium 16 and moves the hand part 38 in the horizontal direction (arrow B direction) and the hand part 38 in the vertical direction (arrow). The transfer unit 39 is configured to move in the A direction). The hand unit 38 is connected to the control unit 22, and outputs the rotation torque and the rotation speed of a motor (not shown) built in the hand unit 38 to the motor according to a hand control signal supplied from the control unit 22. The supply voltage is controlled, and the gripping force of the information recording medium 16, the moving force in the horizontal direction, the moving speed, and the like are controlled. The transfer unit 39 is also connected to the control unit 22 like the hand unit 38, and controls the rotational position of a motor (not shown) incorporated therein according to a transfer position control signal supplied from the control unit 22. The transfer position of the hand unit 38 is controlled by controlling while detecting by a rotary encoder (not shown) or the like.

The control unit 22 determines the SCSI controller 40 that connects the carrier device 19 to the SCSI bus 13 and the model of the driver unit that can be installed in the library device 14, together with the vendor identification and the product identification. Insertion force of the information recording medium 16 into the drive unit 18, memory 41 with the insertion speed, holding speed, etc. stored therein, the number of driver units incorporated in the device, and vendor identification and product of the incorporated drivers. An internal table 42 in which the identification is stored together with the insertion force, the insertion speed, the holding speed, etc. of the information recording medium 16 into each drive unit, and the library device 1 according to the information stored in the internal table 42 as described later.
4 automatically recognizes the number and model of the built-in driver units 18, sets information for controlling the hand unit 38 and the transfer unit 39 in the internal table 42, and commands from the SCSI controller 40 during normal operation. The internal table 42 stores the handler control signal and the transfer control signal for controlling the hand unit 38 and the transfer unit 39 according to the instruction from the operating panel 23.
The processor 43 is generated from the information stored in.

FIG. 5 shows a data configuration diagram of a memory according to an embodiment of the present invention. The memory 41 corresponds to the recognition information storage means in the claims and is composed of a non-volatile memory. The memory 41 corresponds to the vendor identification and product identification of the drive unit that can be installed in the library device 14, and the information recording medium 16 corresponding to the vendor identification and product identification. Insertion force N _{1 to} N _n when inserting the information recording medium 16 into the insertion port 33 of the drive unit 18, insertion speeds V _{1 to} V _n when inserting the information recording medium 16 into the insertion port 33, and pulling the information recording medium 16 into the inside. Required times (holding times) T _{1 to} T _n are stored for each drive unit.

The internal table 42 has a library device 14
The number of drive units 18 installed at the time of startup of the device, vendor identification and product identification, and insertion force N _{1 to} N
_m , the insertion speed V _{1 to} V _m , and the holding time T _{1 to} T _m are recognized and stored according to the procedure described later.

The processor 43 corresponds to the command issuing means and the recognizing means in the claims, and the command issuing means and the recognizing means are realized by a preset program. Further, the processor 43, when controlling the transporting device 19, controls the hand unit 38 to stop at the position where the drive unit is present according to the number of mounted drive units 18 stored in the internal table 42, and the insertion force. The operation of the hand unit 38 is controlled according to N _{1 to} N _m , insertion speeds V _{1 to} V _m , and holding times T _{1 to} T _m .

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of the operation of the transfer control unit of the embodiment of the present invention when the library device is started up. FIG. 7 shows the operation of the library device of another device SCSI-connected to the library device according to the embodiment of the present invention. The operation | movement flowchart at the time of raising is shown. Here, the control unit 2 of the library device 14
2 is set to SCSI-ID # 5, and the library device 14
2 drive units are attached to the drive units, SCSI-ID # 0 and # 1 are set to the attached drive units, SCSI-ID # 7 is set to the host computer 12, and SCSI-ID # 2 is set to the external hard disk device 15. Shall be set.

In the control unit 22, the library device 14 is connected to the host computer 12 by the SCSI bus 13 and when the power is turned on, the initiator function is operated to determine the number and model of the drive units installed. In order for the control unit 22 to determine the number of drive units and the type of the mounted drive units, the processor 43 first sets the numerical value N for setting the determination target to "0" (step S1-1).

Next, the processor 43 controls the SCSI controller 40 to determine whether or not the SCSI bus 13 is in a bus free phase in which no device is in use (step S1-2). S in step S1-1
If the CSI bus 13 is in the bus free phase, then the SCSI-ID # 5 of the control unit 22 is added to the SCSI bus 13.
Is output, and the right to use the SCSI bus 13 is obtained by using the SCSI bus 13 as an arbitration phase (step S1-3). At this time, in SCSI, when the usage right is requested by a plurality of devices, the SCSI-ID of the plurality of devices
Is set so that the device having the largest number of units obtains the usage right, so that the drive unit can be efficiently recognized by setting the SCSI-ID of the control unit 22 to a relatively large value.
Therefore, here, the SCSI-ID of the control unit 22 is set to # 5.

Next, in step S1-3, the control unit 22 performs S
When the right to use the CSI bus 13 is acquired, the processor 43
Controls the SCSI controller 40 to control the SCSI bus 1
3 is shifted to the selection phase for selecting the target (step S1-4).

The processor 43 executes SC in step S1-4.
After controlling the SI controller 40 to put the SCSI bus 13 into the selection phase, a preset SCS
Select I-ID # N and output to SCSI bus 13,
It waits for a response from the device (target) to which the output SCSI-ID #N is set (step S1-5).

In step S1-5, the control unit 22 makes the SCSI
When the SCSI-ID is output to the bus 13 (step S2
-1), the target receives the SCSI-ID from the control unit 22, responds to the control unit 22, and waits for the supply of an inquiry command from the control unit 22 (step S2-2,
S2-3). The control unit 22 sends the response from the target to the SC
It is detected by inverting the BSY (BUSY) signal of the SI bus 13.

In step S1-5, when the control unit 22 selects SCSI-ID # 3, # 4, # 6 as the target, there is no response from the target and the output S
Since it can be determined that the device is not set to the CSI-ID, the process returns to step S1-1 and the SCSI bus 13 is restarted.
And waits for the next SCSI-ID response.

In step S1-5, the control unit 22 sets SCSI-IDs # 0, # 1, # 2, # as targets.
If you select 7, if there is a response from the target,
The processor 43 of the control unit 22 shifts the SCSI bus 13 to the information transfer phase and issues an inquiry command (step S1-6).

The control unit 22 waits for transmission of inquiry data from the target in response to an inquiry command (steps S1-6, S1-7). When the target receives the inquiry command, the target transmits the inquiry data stored in the memories 12c, 15d, and 36 provided in each device (step S2-4).

When the processor 43 of the control unit 22 receives the inquiry data from the target, it executes the command end process and controls the SCSI controller 40 to execute S
The CSI bus 13 is returned to the bus free phase (steps S1-8, S1-9). Next, the processor 43 of the control unit 22 refers to the memory 41 in which the vendor identification and the product identification of the drive unit that can be installed in the library device 14 are stored in advance, and receives them in the memory 41. It is determined whether or not the vendor identification and product identification in the inquiry data are present (steps S1-10, S1).
-11).

In step S1-11, the SCSI-ID #
If the vendor identification and the product identification received from the targets of 0, # 1, # 2, and # 7 exist in the memory 41, the vendor identification of the drive unit incorporated in the library device 14 is detected. Application and product identification. Here, the SCSI-IDs # 0 and # 1 are devices that can be installed in the library device 14, the vendor identification and the product identification exist in the memory 41, and the SCSI-IDs # 2 and # 1. 7 is a host computer 12 and an external hard disk device 1
5, the vendor identification and the product identification do not exist in the memory 41. Therefore, the SCSI of the host computer 12 and the external hard disk device 15
-Even if the same determination is made for IDs # 2 and # 7, they are not set in the control unit 111.

Vendors from SCSI-ID # 0, # 1
The identification and the product identification are stored in the memory 41,
Information such as the insertion force, the insertion speed, and the holding time stored in the memory 41 is set in the internal table 42 together with the vendor identification and the product identification existing in the memory 41 (step S
1-12).

Next, the processor 43 sends the next SCSI-I
In order to perform the same operation for the device of D, "1" is added to the numerical value N for setting the target to be judged (step S1-13). Here, when N becomes "8", the SCSI-ID is the 9th SCSI according to the standard.
-Since it cannot take ID # 8, SCSI bus 1
It is determined that the recognition is completed for all the devices connected to No. 3 (step S1-14). Further, if N is equal to or less than -8 ″ in step S1-14, it can be determined that there is a device that has not been determined, and thus step S1-
Return to 2 and continue processing.

If it is determined in step S1-14 that all the devices connected to the SCSI bus 13 have been recognized, the vendor identification and product identification existing in the memory 41 are determined. Is the device that matches with SCSI-ID #
It can be easily recognized that there are two drive units installed in the library device 14 from the two devices 0 and # 1, and this is stored in the internal table 42 and the processing is terminated (step S1-15).

As described above, the library device 14 can set the number of drive units necessary for controlling the transport device 19 and the information of its model in the internal table 42 of the control unit 22. Next, the operation of the library device 14 will be described. At this time, the library device 14 is controlled by a command from the host computer 12.

For example, when the host computer 12 sends a control command to the control unit 22 to move the information recording medium 16 accommodated in P0 of the medium accommodating shelf 17 to the drive unit 18 of SCSI-ID # 0, the control unit 22 conveys it. Device 1
9 controls the transfer section 39 to hold the information recording medium 16 at the position P0 of the medium storage shelf 17 of the transport source instructed by the hand computer 38 by the host computer 12, and then the SCSI-ID # instructed by the host computer 12. The drive unit 18 is moved to the mounting position P0 of 0, and the information recording medium 16 is inserted into the drive unit 18. At this time, the drive unit 18 stored in the internal table 42 is stored.
The movable position of the hand unit 38 is regulated by the number of
The inserting operation of the information recording medium 16 into the drive unit 18 is controlled by the inserting force N, the inserting speed V, and the holding time T.

When the host computer 12 sends a control command to the control unit 22 to move the information recording medium 16 accommodated in the drive unit 18 of SCSI-ID # 0 to P2 of the medium accommodating shelf 17, the control unit 22 conveys it. Device 19
Of the information recording medium 16 ejected from the insertion port 33 of the drive unit 18 by controlling the transfer unit 39 of the drive unit 18 to move the hand unit 38 to the mounting position P1 of the drive unit 18 of SCSI-ID # 0 instructed by the host computer 12.
Is held, and the information recording medium 16 is accommodated in the medium accommodation shelf 17 at the position P0 of the medium accommodation shelf 17 of the transfer destination specified by the host computer 12. At this time, the movable position of the hand portion 38 is restricted by the number of drive units 18 stored in the internal table 42, and the information recording medium 16 is inserted into the drive unit 18 by the insertion force N, the insertion speed V, and the holding time T. The operation is controlled.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the number of drive units mounted in the library apparatus and the type of the drive units mounted in the library apparatus are used to determine the library apparatus from the vendor identification and product identification. Can be set automatically when raising. Therefore, manual setting is not necessary, setting mistakes due to input mistakes can be reduced, and setting time can be shortened.

In the present embodiment, the SCSI interface has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to the SCSI interface and is applied to other interfaces such as SSA (Serial Storage Architecture) which is attracting attention as a next-generation interface. You can also

SSA is an open serial interface standard and is standardized by ANSI-X3T10.1. FIG. 8 shows a block diagram of another embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the same components as those of FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

The library device 110 of this embodiment is connected to the host computer 120 via the SSA bus 130. Host computer 120 is SSA bus 1
The SSA controller 121 for connecting to other devices such as a CD-ROM, a printer, a scanner, a hard disk device, etc.

The SSA controller 121 converts internally processed data and commands into a format compatible with the SSA interface standard and supplies the converted data and commands to a device connected to the SSA bus 130, or S from another device.
The data supplied via the SA bus 130 is received, and processing such as conversion into a format processable by the processor 12a is performed.

The library device 110 writes the information to the control unit 111 for controlling the transport device 19 and the recording medium, and reads the information from the recording medium.
12-1 and 112-2 are connected by an SSA bus 130. In the SSA interface, the control unit 111 and the drive units 112-1, 1 and 1
Various connection methods such as string connection, loop connection, and switch network connection can be applied to the connection with 12-2.

In FIG. 8, the same string connection as the SCSI connection of the embodiment is made. In SSA, data is transferred using frames. Where S
The data transfer operation of the SA interface will be described. FIG.
Shows the frame format of SSA.

As shown in FIG. 9, one frame includes a control field ctl and an address field a.
The flag FLAG holds the address, the data field data, and the CRC field CRC. The control field ctl is composed of one data character and indicates the content of the frame.

The address field address is 1
It consists of ~ 6 data characters and indicates the address of the device to be accessed. The data field data is
It consists of 0 to 128 data characters, and describes the data and commands to be transmitted.

The CRC field consists of 4 data bytes and is used for frame check and the like. S in FIG.
The figure for demonstrating the flow control of SA is shown. FIG.
(A) is an output line of the SSA bus 130, FIG. 10 (B)
Indicates data on the input line of the SSA bus 130.

When the frame Frame1 having the frame structure shown in FIG. 9 is output to the output line as shown in FIG. 10A, another device as shown in FIG. 10B is output based on the control field ctl. RR (Receive Ready) that permits transmission of the next frame, Frame2
Is output twice. When the device that outputs the frame Fram1 receives the RR twice in succession, the device prepares the next frame Fram2.

The transmission of the frame Fram1 is completed, and the address field addr of the frame Fram1 is sent.
When it is recognized by the device designated by ess,
ACK (A from the device instructed as shown in (B)
CKnowledge) is output twice in succession.

When the transmission of the frame Fram1 is output, the next frame Fram2 is output as shown in FIG. 10 (A) based on the RR output according to the control field ctl of the frame Fram1 of FIG. 10 (B). To be done. When the frame Fram2 is output, the frame F
An RR that permits transmission of the next frame is output according to the control field ctl of ram2.

In the SSA interface, data is transferred between the devices by performing the above operation between the devices. Here, returning to the description of the present embodiment, the operation of the library device 110 of the present embodiment will be described.

In this embodiment, the address ADR-1 is sent to the control unit 111 of the library device 110 on the SSA bus 130.
2 installed in the library device 110.
Addresses ADR-2 and ADR-3 are set in the drive units 112-1 and 112-n of the machine.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control unit according to another embodiment of the present invention when the drive is recognized. Control unit 111
Then, when the control unit 111 of the library device 110 and the drive units 112-1 and 112-2 are connected by the SSA bus 130 and the power is turned on, the initiator function operates.

The initiator function determines the number and model of drive units installed, and controls the control unit 1
This is a function for realizing the optimal control of the transport device 19 by means of 11, and is realized by the processor 43 provided in the control unit 111. The processor 43 first sets the address ADR for setting the target to be determined to "ADR-0".
(Step S3-1).

Next, the processor 43 controls the SSA controller 113 to control the address A on the SSA bus 130.
DR-1 drive, that is, drive unit 11
An inquiry data transfer command is output to 2-1 (step S3-2). Upon receiving a response from the drive units 112-1 and 112-2, the processor 43 waits for transmission of inquiry data from the drive units 112-1 and 112-2 (step S3-3).

When the inquiry data from the drive unit 112-1 is received, the memory 41 in which the vendor identification and the product identification of the drive unit mountable in the library device 110 are stored in advance is searched. , It is determined whether or not the vendor identification and the product identification received in the memory 41 are present (steps S3-4, S3-5).

At step S3-5, the address ADR-1
If the vendor identification and the product identification from the drive unit 112-1 of the drive unit 112-1 exist in the memory 41, the vendor identification and the product identification of the drive unit built in the library device 110 are obtained. Can be determined.

At this time, the addresses ADR-1, ADR
-2 drive units 112-1 and 112-2 can be determined to be devices that can be installed in the library device 110. Here, the insertion force, the insertion speed, the holding time, etc. stored in the memory 41 by the vendor identification and the product identification of the drive units 112-1, 112-2 of the addresses ADR-1, ADR-2, etc. Information is set in the internal table 42 (step S3-6).

Next, the processor 43 sequentially specifies the addresses of the mounted drive units and performs the same operation (steps S3-7, S3-8). When the processes of steps S3-2 to S3-7 are completed for all addresses, the number of drive units set in the internal table 42 is counted, the number of drive units set is recognized, and the number is stored in the internal table 42. Then, the process upon drive recognition is completed (step S3-9).

FIG. 12 shows an operation flowchart of the drive unit according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In the drive units 112-1 and 112-2, when there is a command from the control unit 111 to transmit inquiry data to the addresses ADR-1 and ADR-2 of the own device (step S4-
1), a response (ACK) is performed (step S4-2), the inquiry data is read from the memory 36, and is transmitted to the control unit 111 (step S4-3).

Next, the operation of the library device 111 will be described. At this time, the library device 111 is controlled by a command from the host computer 120 during normal operation. For example, from the host computer 120 to the control unit 111, the information recording medium 16 accommodated in P0 of the medium accommodating shelf 17 is loaded into the drive unit 11 of the address ADR-1.
If there is a move command to move to 2-1, the control unit 111 controls the transfer unit 39 of the transfer device 19 to move the hand unit 38 to the position P0 of the medium storage shelf 17 of the transfer source instructed by the host computer 120. The information recording medium 16 is gripped and moved to the mounting position P0 of the drive unit 112-1 at the address ADR-1 instructed by the host computer 120, and the information recording medium 16 is inserted into the drive unit 112-1. At this time, the internal table 4
The movable position of the hand portion 38 is restricted by the number of drive units 112-1 stored in No. 2, and the insertion force N, the insertion speed V, and the holding time T stored in the internal table 42 are controlled.
Thus, the operation of inserting the information recording medium 16 into the drive unit 18 is controlled.

According to the present embodiment, as in the case of the first embodiment, the number of drive units mounted in the library device and the type of drive units are used to determine the library device from the vendor identification and product identification of the mounted drive units. It can be set automatically at startup. Therefore, manual setting is not necessary, setting mistakes due to input mistakes can be reduced, and setting time can be shortened. In addition, the SSA used in this example
The interface has a large number of connectable devices and also has a high degree of freedom in connection, and thus a device having a higher degree of freedom than the SCSI interface can be connected.

In the above embodiment, the SCSI interface and the example in which the drive unit is connected by the SSA have been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and needless to say, the invention can be applied to interfaces of other standards. In short, the library device of the present invention can be connected as long as information can be bidirectionally transferred between a plurality of devices.

[0083]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the command issuing means for issuing the command for transmitting the identification information via the bus is provided, and the device connected to the bus is identified by the command issuing means. Information is automatically acquired, and the identification information acquired by the identification unit is searched for the identification information storage unit that stores the identification information of the mountable drive unit, and the identification information storage unit finds the identification information that matches the obtained identification information. If
Since it can be automatically recognized as a drive unit mounted on the device, it has features such as no need for manual input.

According to the second aspect, the number of drive units incorporated can be easily recognized by recognizing the matching identification information. According to claim 3, since the model of the drive unit mounted directly can be recognized from the matching identification information, the model of the drive unit can be easily recognized.

According to the fourth aspect, by controlling the medium carrying means for carrying the medium to the drive unit in accordance with the number and model of the drive units recognized by the recognizing means, the medium according to the standard of the mounted drive unit is controlled. It has features such as transport control.

According to the fifth aspect, by storing the standard value of the medium for the drive unit together with the identification information in the memory, it is possible to perform control according to the standard of the drive unit. According to claim 6, SCSI (Small Computer System) which is generally used at present.
Interface) By identifying each drive unit using the SCSI-ID of the interface, etc., it can be easily realized.

According to claim 7, SSA having a high degree of freedom
By configuring with an interface constructed based on (Serial Storage Architecture), it has the feature that the degree of freedom of connection can be improved. According to claim 8, a command for transmitting the identification information for recognizing the device connected to the bus is issued via the bus forming the predetermined interface, and the identification information of the device connected to the bus is automatically acquired. However, by recognizing the drive unit connected to the library device according to the acquired identification information, the number of built-in drive units can be recognized from the number of matching identification information, and the model of the drive unit can be identified from the matching identification information. It has the features of being recognizable and not requiring manual input.

According to claim 9, the present invention has a feature that it can be easily realized by identifying each drive unit by using the SCSI-ID of the SCSI interface which is generally used at present. According to claim 10, SSA (Serial Storage Architectur) having a high degree of freedom is provided.
By having an interface constructed based on e), it has the advantage that the degree of freedom of connection can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external view of a library device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a library device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a drive unit mounting portion of the library apparatus according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a data configuration diagram of a memory according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an operation flowchart when a drive is recognized by the control unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an operation flowchart of a target according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block configuration diagram of a library device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a frame format of SSA.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining flow control of SSA.

FIG. 11 is an operation flowchart when a drive is recognized by a control unit according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is an operation flowchart of a target according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11, 100 information processing system 12, 120 host computer 12c, 35, 40 SCSI controller 13 SCSI bus 14, 110 library device 15 external hard disk device 16 information recording medium 17 medium storage 18, 112-1, 112-2 drive unit 19 carrier device 22, 111 Control unit 113, 114, 121 SSA controller 130 SSA bus

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A medium storage unit for storing an information recording medium, and a drive unit for mounting the information recording medium, recording / reproducing the information recording medium, and transferring information via a bus forming a predetermined interface. A medium transport unit connected to the bus for transporting the information recording medium between the medium storage unit and the drive unit; an identification information storage unit storing identification information of a mountable drive unit; Command issuing means for issuing a command for acquiring recognition information; and searching the identification information storage means based on the recognition information transmitted from the target connected to the bus based on the command issued by the command issuing means. If the recognition information transmitted from the target is stored in the identification information storage means, the driver that can mount the target Library apparatus characterized by comprising a recognition means for recognizing that the subunit. 2. The library apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recognizing unit recognizes the number of built-in drive units according to the number of pieces of transport information stored in the transport information storage unit. 3. The recognizing means recognizes a model of a drive unit of a built-in drive unit according to the number of pieces of conveyance information stored in the conveyance information storage means. The library device according to one item. 4. The library apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a medium conveyance control unit that controls the medium conveyance unit according to the identification information recognized by the recognition unit. 5. The standard value of the drive unit corresponding to the identification information is stored in the memory in addition to the identification information, and the standard value corresponding to the recognition information recognized by the recognition means by the medium conveyance control means is stored in the memory. 5. The library apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the library apparatus controls reading of the information recording medium and insertion of the information recording medium into the drive unit by the medium conveying unit according to the read standard value. 6. The SCSI (Small Computer)
6. The library device according to claim 1, which is a bus forming a system interface. 7. The bus is SSA (Serial Storage A
6. The library device according to claim 1, which forms an interface constructed on the basis of rchitecture. 8. A medium storage unit for storing an information recording medium,
The information recording medium is mounted and connected to a drive unit for recording / reproducing the information recording medium and a bus forming a desired interface with the drive unit, and the information recording medium is connected between the medium storage section and the drive unit. A library apparatus having a medium carrying means for carrying, wherein the medium carrying means issues a command for transmitting identification information for identifying the device to a device connected to the bus via the bus, A drive recognition method for a library apparatus, wherein a built-in drive unit is recognized according to identification information transmitted from a device connected to the bus according to the issued command. 9. The bus is a SCSI (Small Computer).
9. The drive recognition method for a library device according to claim 8, wherein the bus is a bus forming a system interface. 10. The bus is SSA (Serial Storage).
9. The drive recognition method for a library apparatus according to claim 8, wherein an interface constructed based on Architecture is formed.